Knobbled Orbweaver from New Zealand

Subject: New Zealand Garden Orb Weaver spider, Eriophora pustulosa Location: Wellington, NZ October 12, 2013 5:40 pm Hi Bugman I was searching to identify the spider in the photo and found the answer on this site – thank you! Sorry this is in wrong section (should be I general comments!) but I wanted to share the photo! Cheers Signature: Raewyn

Knobbled Orbweaver

Hi Raewyn, Thank you for locating a link in our archives that identifies your Orbweaver. We do need to provide a disclaimer that though we agree that this is an Orbweaver in the family Araneidae, we cannot confirm with 100% certainty that the species is Eriophora pustulosa as it is a highly variable species. Arachne.org.au, where Eriophora pustulosa is known as the Knobbled Orbweaver, states it is: “An extremely widespread, medium-sized orbweaver across most of southern Australia and nearby places including New Zealand where it is one of the most commonly seen spiders. Its pattern varies enormously in colour from greys, black, white, browns and oranges, often mottled. It has several obvious knobs on its back, or upper surface of the abdomen, usually five at the rear end near the spinnerets.”